We're really loving this yawn compilation exercise in sympathetic yawn repression. It's a video by filmmaker Daniel Mercadante (titled "Yawns," naturally). Assembled from clips of the best yawn footage the internet has to offer, it may be the most definitive proof ever that yawns are contagious. Seriously — we defy you to sit through this thing without turning into an eye-watering, mouth-gaping mess.

While "yawn contagion" was shown to be highest between kin, it was still higher between friends than it was between acquaintances, and higher between acquaintances than between strangers - lending credence to the long-standing hypothesis that our predilection to "catching" yawns is a manifestation of our empathetic nature (our tendency to experience empathy follows the exact same pattern of regression).

Those interested can check out the full study free of charge over at PLoS ONE.